Chapter 54 - Chapter 54

10/6 18:21 (Autumn, Night, Middle of the Ocean)

Sider's body was quickly enveloped by Lightning-Attribute Mana, frying the worms that tried to bite into her and those immediately around her beyond their ability to regenerate.

The Werewolf scowled further at seeing a tentacle moving away from her boat and towards the part she previously pulped, grabbing it from the water and bringing it back to the boat before she opened her mouth, electricity starting to condense deep within her throat before she closed her mouth, breathing in deeply and releasing a yellow shockwave together with her howl.

The vermins nearest her were burned and crushed while the ones farthest from her were merely sent flying from her boat landing on both other tentacles and the sea around her boat, well aware that this last thing was made such to be not only unharmed but was able to channel the little noble's attack into itself to fuel its own barrier.

Barrier that was sent into overdrive upon this flaring of power, releasing a pulse of power that charred all the nearby vermins even if the greater tentacles were unharmed.

Upon seeing such the black haired woman scowled even further before deciding to activate the Innate Skill "Enhancement: Physicality"'s Active effect, causing a silver glow to emerge from her body before it receded, leaving behind as the only change from before that her eyes now glowed an intense silver light.

She bent her knees slightly, her force pressing down on her ship slightly before launching herself forward using her newfoundly increased physical ability to land straight on another nearby tentacle, her right hand closing around what was previously empty air but was now occupied by her weapon of choice, a large two-handed, two-sided axe made of incredibly highly compressed black stone.

Some may wonder at the fact that the axe was blunt but the reason for such became obvious when Sider's typical by this point yellow crystals formed along one of its blades.

She didn't wait further, swinging her weapon horizontally with the entirety of her strenght.

A sharp shockwave emanated in an instant, the top of the tentacle falling in the sea below them as a section one meters tall was completely destroyed while the tentacle twiched violently, electricity coursing throught the newly formed wound.

The Werewolf held her axe comfortably on her shoulder, the crystals shattered to release the previous blow, before jumping back down to land on her boat for an instant and launching herself towards another one of the tentacles, her axe rotating once and leaving behind a circle made entirely out of electricity that then shortly after proceded to crystallize into a floating yellow ring that started spinning towards her.

There was no earth near Sider after all and so she was forced to improvise.

A spike of yellow crystal formed between her axe's blades and she thrusted it deep within another one of the tentacles, the crystal exploding into a directed wave of electricity that blasted a hole straight through it, charring the flesh around it, before stretching out her left hand and catching her previously created crystal disk.

Spinning in place once, Sider threw her temporary weapon at full force towards a faraway tentacles before snarling, noting how all the tentacles she previously damaged had already fully recovered.

Not only that but she noted with a vast amount of rage how one of them was trembling before finally splitting in two, a couple of fanged maws opening as did small, empty white eyes covered by transparent protective membranes opened all over the now thirteen tentacles.

Her giant circle chakram made to reach the Hydra-like Horror of the Depths only for its eyes to open wide, beams of light being released in an instant to prematurely detonate it while it was still mid-flight.

Sider clicked her tongue in displeasure before jumping away from the hole in the tentacles that started to close around her, well remembering the stories from her father about what happened to people trapped within the body of an Horror of the Depths and wanting nothing to do with it.

She fully transformed her left arm, her muscles expanding even with their already high density and quantity while a thick black fur covered them and her nails becoming sharp claws in a partial transformation made easier by her Innate Skill "Enhancement: Transformation" while strengthening the result itself.

Her axe spun once, lightning following it before concentrating in a sphere that exploded in a dome of electricity that blocked the rays of Evil Light released by the Mutated Horror, shielding the noble.

The Werewolf breathed in deeply once, lightning sparking in her mouth before she howled, releasing another blast of electricity that confused the acquatic Monster's senses briefly, buying herself enough time to create some more of her yellow crystals around her axe.

The water churned more and more violently as the tentacles started to thrash around, battering the boat from all directions and even trying to squash the Werewolf under their weight.

Said Werewolf was moving all over the place, releasing bursts of electricity together with her howls to fuel her ship's shielding and to Shock the marine Monster, only for it to Recover pratically immediately after the Status Alteration landed, barely being able to buy her enough time to survive, especially once its eyes started to glow and released rays of Evil Light, a product of the combination between the Light- and Curse-Attributes similar to her own exposive Thunder Gems, made using Lightning- and Earth-Attribute together.

Having understood how she wouldn't be able to last long if the situation continued this way, Sider triggered her transformation even further with the Innate Skill common between the Werewolves called "Form: Humanoid Wolf", even with the backlash she will suffer because of fully activating this Skill without the presence of a full Moon.

Normally Werewolves were no different from their Beastkins brethrens when it comes to their physical characteristics outside of their transformations and on average an adult Werewolf while transformed reached the two meters mark n height while her own dad was even shorter than the average for a male Werewolf, reaching only around 190 cms while transformed.

Thankfully however her father was not a Werewolf but an Amazon and an especially tall one and she eredited her height from him, as was shown off in her Humanoid Wolf Form being a 225 cm tall mass of muscle, fur, claws, fangs and the death that would result from her use of such.

A tentacle fell upon her with great strenght but she moved at a speed much higher than before, severing it in two in an instant with her Thunder Gems.

With an heavy step on her boat, Sider sent herself towards another one of the thirteen tentacles, jumping side to side to dodge rays of Evil Light raining down upon her, trusting her increased Existence, Resistance and Recovery to deal with the blows that she wasn't able to dodge.

Her axe and claws clashed with one of the tentacle's flesh, ripping it into pieces of flesh that fell all around her, her electric cloak charring the slivers that fell upon her own body as she savagely tore into it before she jumped back into her boat, her body releasing a beam of Lightning-Attribute Mana that her boat absorbed before this last one's Barrier was converted shortly into a Lightning-Attribute Barrier that fried the shreds of Horror on it.

Before the Barrier could be temporarily converted however, she had already jumped away from it as she herself would not be left unharmed by the Barrier's shielding, her one meter and a half greataxe was completely covered in her Thunder Gems before she proceded to throw it hard towards one of the now fourteen tentacles.

Before its flight was even completed she turned her attention back to the tentacle she jumped towards, crossing her arms before herself to block the blows coming from it, spinning in mid air before stopping herself on a small layer of Earth-Attribute Mana that crumpled soon after because of the force and weight of her rough landing.

Her Thunder Gem-covered axe exploded, a wave of force and Lightning-Attribute Mana being released in an instant obliterating one of said tentacles completely, at least when it comes to the part of it that emerged from the water and sending Sider flying back because of the shockwave.

Said Werewolf landed on another tentacles, her claws and her arms burying themselves up to her elbows within it, electricity starting to flare up around her before it was violently unleashed in an instant within the tentacle itself, frying it repeatedly despite and because of its natural Regeneration, slowing it down and trying to fight and stop the multiplication of its tentacles.

For a while this process even worked however she was forced to stop her assault soon after as another tentacle smashed where she just was, Sider dodging by forcefully ripping herself away from the shreds of flesh trying to entomb her body within the Monster and launching herself down towards the sea, a snarl on her lupine face.

While she was falling, the Amazon-blooded one impaled the claws of her left hand and of her feet into the tentacles to slow down her fall to a crawl while rising her right hand.

The noble breathed in deeply before howling again, a sharp call that was answered soon after as her axe flew back in her waiting hand, before being buried into the tentacle hard before Sider was bucked away from its thrashing only to safely land back on her boat, her focus shortly moving to examine the status of her gift from her parents, noting how only one of its blades was still intact, if so it could be defined as considering the fact that it was heavily chipped and with present and obvious cracks, and its shaft was at least 30 cm shorter.

She growled as her single piece of jewelry, a choker that grew in size at the same rate she did, started to glow, converting Vital Energy and Mana into Earth Qi to repair her weapon.

Meanwhile the Qi, still Unaligned at her Step, stored within her own body started to circulate faster, increasing her battle power and in addition accelerating the process of tempering her body and soul in a process equivalent to Cultivation taught to the Amazons by her great-great-something-grandfather, an Earth Body Cultivator, around 750 years ago, and her Lightning-Mana coating intensified around her, glowing silver eyes meeting the dull yet cruel white eyes belonging to four of the now sixteen tentacles.